April Books Read

I managed to read and review 12 books last month, including another epic by Spinrad.  10 books were related to my Avon/Equinox project.  I am down to 14 authors left to read in my Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery Series, as they drop out one by one as I finish reading all of their accessible oevre.  In between each book read I now read 30 minutes from Burton's Tales of the Arabian Nights--I am now beginning the 20th night of stories.  Already a remarkable number of them were ones chosen by Pasolini for his filmed version.  After a complete cycle through the remaining authors, I read a book unrelated to the series.  Currently that is the very long 3-part story by Jules Verne called Mysterious Island.  I will soon be reading part 2 of that novel, as I continue my way through the PC adventure game called Return to Mysterious Island.

I began the month by finishing the epic Mexica by Norman Spinrad.  This is a detailed and very riveting account of Cortez and his Mexican conquests, one of the best historical fictions I have ever come across.  Having visited the Aztec capital, or what remains of it, three times now certainly helped.  Everyone knows that Cortez, with much smaller forces, was able to capture a and conquer a vast city and civilization.  But how?  Answers come, and they are complex.  Highly recommended, and one of his best books.

Next came the 4th entry in Piers Anthony's fascinating Cluster series, which also ties in to his Tarot Trilogy.  Called Thousand-Star, it can be read without prior knowledge of the series, but of course it's better if you know.  It's not as tight or well constructed as many of his novels, as we follow two characters (inside one body), one alien and one human, on an adventurous competition on a strange planet.  Throughout the series we have learned very little of the Ancient Ones, those who came before everything else and left strange machinery and archaeology behind.  This contest is geared towards attaining an ancient site and learning more about the previous masters of the galaxy.  Certainly a good read.  It could be made into a fun adventure game, too.

Next came the prequel to John Christopher's Tripods series, written last.  Called When The Tripods Came, it is easily the best of the series, and explains how the alien takeover of Earth was achieved.  Good stuff.  I only have one final book by the author left to read.  Next came Harry Harrison's 2nd and final Tony Hawkins spy novel, another very funny entry called Queen Victoria's Revenge.  Mostly set in England and Scotland, Tony is assigned to deliver a payout to a hijacking gang, but is kidnapped and thrown into the middle of a very messy adventure.  A nice change from serious SF.

Next came Kenneth Bulmer's The Ships of Durostorum, the 5th novel in his Keys series.  We get a different perspective with this novel.  Instead of having the hero battling the evil Countess and her clan, we have the hero land in her midst, hired by her to oversee updating of her mines, and believing that she is the best thing since sliced bread.  He doesn't find out the truth about her until the end, and we finally get to see the Countess in action for a longer period of time.  She is one very bad lady!  On the flip side of the Ace Double novel was a story called Alton's Unguessable, by Jeff Sutton, a new author name for me.  This is one of two books I read in April by authors other than you know who, and it really is a first rate SF novel.  It concerns the usual scouting expedition looking around for a habitable planet to colonize, but nothing else is similar to anything I have ever come across before.  It's like a very good Star Trek episode, only even Kirk could not talk his way of the mess this ship and its hapless crew get into.  Very memorable!

E. C. Tubb continues to surprise me with high quality stand-a-lone novels (he wrote nearly endless series which I have not yet explored).  This latest one is called Dead Weight, and takes us to a future where old people can be rejuvenated and live far beyond any normal lifespan.  This creates some serious social problems, which are dealt with well in this short novel.  The book would make a good companion read to Harrison's "No Room No Room."  It plays out like a good "noir" story, too.  Well done!

Next came another double novel, this one published in modern day by Armchair Fiction.  The one I was concerned with was called Planet For Plunder, by Hal Clement.  Aliens arrive on Earth.  First come mining pirates, to loot the mineral wealth.  They set in motion events that will ultimately destroy life on the planet.  Then along comes a responsible conservation officer to try and makes things right.  Clement's aliens are always very, very aliens, and getting to know and understand them is a big part of reading one of his novels.  This began as a novelette, but was expanded into a longer version by Sam Merwin, Jr.  I have read and enjoyed both versions.  On the flip side was Men of the Morning Star, by Edmond Hamilton, about a colony on Venus exploiting not just the wealth of the planet's oceans, but the inhabitants as well.  Very short but not really that bad.

Michael Moorcock's The Sword of the Dawn is the 3rd entry in his Hawkmoon/Runestaff series.  It's a bit of a pot boiler, though a few new aspects of the story get introduced.  The main problem is Hawkmoon; he is a very dull hero, thinking with his sword, so to speak.  I'll be glad when this series is over.  If you are new to reading sword and sorcery, then this seem like the cat's meow.  However, it is very derivative of other, much better told tales.

Lastly comes J. G. Ballard's novella Running Wild, about a mass murder in a gated community just outside Reading (I failed to mention a rather dismal book by Jack Williamson and Frederick Pohl, part 2 of a juvenile undersea adventure trilogy).  Ballard's book is written in the form of a murder mystery, and it is essential reading.  Best of the best, and very disturbing, too.  I also just finished a book by Malzberg, which I'll save for talking about next month.  Now it's on to James Blish once again!

In other news, we watched Zatoichi #9 this week, The Adventures of Zatoichi.  It's Deb's choice for the weekend.  And we just listened to Haydn Symphony #101--only three more to go in the marathon!!

Thursday we celebrated Beltane in a big way.  Usually it's a quiet evening, the final wood fire of the season.  We then celebrate May 1st with a woodland walk to see trilliums, wild ginger, and other spring wild flowers.  With all the local parks closed for quarantine, there was no woodland walk.  We did manage a walk around the local pond, seeing many trees and shrubs in full blossom, and acres of dandelions, keeping the tortoise happy.  But Beltane Eve we turned into a major listening party.  I received 8 of 9 CDs by Brian Eno I had ordered, and we played 4 of them.  The cats love his music as much as Haydn's.  The fire was slow to start, but once it got going it was a good one.  Vegan pizza for supper.  Deb also baked cinnamon muffins, which lasted into today.  They go remarkably well with coffee.  And with Deb's version of chocolatl, made with baking chocolate and almond milk.  The best.  We also roasted two batches of coffee beans, our Beltane roast, as it is called.  So Happy Beltane, and I hope you enjoy May as much as we will.

Mapman Mike